Vaz Pinto dedicates 'difficult' Sofapaka win to Gor Mahia fans

Gor Mahia coach Carlos Manuel Vaz Pinto has dedicated the team's 2-1 victory against Sofapaka in the FKF Premier League to their fans.

Tito Okello and Alpha Onyango scored for the champions at Wundayi Stadium on Thursday while Titus Achesa denied the visitors a clean sheet with a second-half strike for Batoto ba Mungu as K'Ogalo made it two wins out of two since the top-flight returned to action.

The Portuguese said it was difficult to get a win against Sofapaka but believes his players' commitment pushed them over the line and also dedicated the win to the club's fans for always standing with the team.

"It was a difficult game [against Sofapaka] but the players showed commitment and a lot of cohesion," Vaz told the club's social media pages after the game.

"It's our third consecutive victory and I would like to dedicate this victory to our supporters who always support us and continue to believe in us."

On the overall outcome of the game, Pinto said: "ln second half, the opponents came back with new ideas and they created more problems for us. We tried to put things under control but we conceded one goal and we needed to get another goal to win the game."

On his part, captain Harun Shakava said: "It was a tough game though we really wanted the three points…everyone fought hard and we achieved what we wanted.

"We will take one game at a time."

Vaz Pinto made only one change from the starting team that featured against Nairobi City Stars in the 1-0 win, dropping John Macharia for defender Andrew Juma and offered Victor Ayugi a place on the bench.

Okello broke the deadlock in the 28th minute when he headed past Aigba Moubarak after receiving a good pass from Kenneth Muguna. Sofapaka's Lawrence Juma, who has scored eight goals in the league, came close to equalising against his former side in the 31st minute but his shot went wide.

Ernest Wendo was yellow-carded in the 43rd minute for a dangerous foul on Timothy Otieno as Batoto ba Mungu camped in Gor Mahia's area in search of an equaliser before the half-time break.

After unsuccessful attempts to equalise in the first half, Sofapaka finally found the back of Gor Mahia's net in the 53rd minute through Achesa. Two minutes later, Sofapaka's coach Ken Odhiambo made two changes when Kepha Aswani and David King'atua came on for Nixon Omondi and Ambrose Sifuna, respectively.

Onyango added the second goal for Gor Mahia in the 80th minute before Sofapaka made another change in the 84th minute by bringing Pistone Mutamba in for Kiongera. The change was an attempt to get more men upfront but K'Ogalo successfully stood firm to protect their slim lead.

The midweek win means Gor Mahia's dominance in this fixture remains as they have won 13 of the last 25 games where eight have been drawn.